Dust-guard for railway journal-boxes.



No; 724,919. PATENTED APR. 7. 1903. A; J. MoGAULEY. DUST GUARD FOR RAILWAY JOURNAL BOXES.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1902. N0 MODEL.

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\NVENTOR' ATTE s-r x xhezi iw NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT J. MOOAULEY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

DUST-GUARD FOR RAILWAY JOURNAL-BOXES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,919, dated April 7, 1903. i

Application filed June a, 1902.

To all whom it may concern.- Be it known that'I, ALBERT J. MCCAULEY, acitizen ofthe United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, (and whose post-office address is 1217 Holland Building,) have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dust-Guards for Railway Journal-Boxes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficien't device which when applied to a car-axle in thejournal-box will effectually prevent all manner of dust, sand, or grit from entering the journalbox and which will also prevent the oil and waste from accidentally dropping out of said box.

To the above purposes my invention consists in certain new and novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the preferred form of my improved dust-guard for railway journal-boxes. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View taken longitudinally through the center of a journal-box, the car-axle being shown by dotted'lines and my improved dust-guard in proper position upon the axle and within the journal-box. Fig. 3 is an elevation of a modified form of my dust-guard.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of a further modification of the dust-guard. v

In the construction of the preferred form of the device, as shown, I utilize a pair of mating sections 1 and 1, preferably wooden blocks, cou nterparts of one another, in which are formed the semicircular spaces 2.

The blocks 1 and 1 are placed edge to edge in such a manner thatthe semicircular openings form a circular opening, through which the car-axle passes, and the meeting edges of the blocks] and 1 at the side of the semicircular spaces 2 are rabbeted or shouldered, as indicated by 3, so as to overlap each other.

A band or strap 4 is constructed of a single piece of material, preferably sheet metal, (though it may be wire,) and has its ends socured in any suitable manner to the under edge or lower corners of the lower block 1, the body of said band extending up the side Serial No. 113,859- (No model.)

edges of the mating blocks 1 and 1 and across the top of the latter, there being a slight space between the top of the block 1 and the band l.

Formed integral with or fixed to the edges of the band 4 are ears or lips 5, preferably arranged in pairs and adapted to engage the side edges of the block 1 to retain the same in positive alinement with the block 1".

Positioned in the space between the top edge of the block 1 and the band is a single leaf-spring 6, its center bearing on the center of the top edge of the block 1 and its upwardly-bent ends bearing on the under side of that portion of the band 4 that extends horizontally across the top of the block 1.

Ears or lips 7 are formed integral with the center of the spring 6 and engage on the faces of the block 1, at the top edges of the center thereof, thereby retaining the spring 6 in its proper position. This spring 6 exerts a continuous pressure, which tends to draw the blocks 1 and 1 together to fit snugly around the axle, for the reason that the center of the spring bears directly on the top of the block 1, while the ends thereof bear underneath the horizontal portionof the band, the ends of the latter being secured to the lower block 1.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 the edges of the blocks 1 and 1 in which are formed the semicircular spaces 2, are lined with leather, fiber, or analogous material 8, thisyielding and fibrous surface bearing directly on the periphery of the axle and materially increasingthe efiectivenes's of the dustguard.

In the modification shown in Fig. 413116 leafspring is dispensed with and a plurality of small expansive coil-springs 9 are interposed between the top of the block 1 and the horizontal portion of the band at, which springs are held in position by small pins 10, that are top of the dust-guard pocket is closed by the usual block or wedge 13.

A dust-guard of my improved construction is simple, cheap, and durable, is composed of a minimum number of parts, can be assembled or taken apart quickly and with little labor, and is very efiective in excluding dust, &c., from the rear portion of a journalbox.

I claim- 1. In a dust-guard, the combination with a pair of alined blocks, the meeting edges of which overlap and in each of which blocks is formed a semicircular opening, of a strap secured to one of said blocks and passing around the opposite block, pairs of ears formed integral with the strap, for engaging the side edges of the last mentioned block, and a springinterposed between the last-mentioned block and the strap, substantially as specified.

2. In a dust-guard, the combination with a pair of alined blocks, the meeting edges of which overlap and in each of which blocks is formed a semicircular opening, of a strap secured to one of said blocks and passing around the opposite block, a spring interposed between the last-mentioned block and the strap and retaining-lips formed integral with the center of the spring for engaging the edge of the block, to retain said spring in position, substantially as specified.

3. In a dust-guard, the combination with a pair of alined blocks, the meeting edges of which overlap and in each of which blocks is formed a semicircular opening, of a strap secured to one of said blocks and passing around the opposite block, pairs of ears formed integral with said strap for engaging the edges of the last-mentioned block, a spring interposed between the lastmentioned block and the strap and a pair of retaining-lips formed integral with the center of the spring for engaging the edge of the last-mentioned block to retain the spring in position, substantially as specified.

ALBERT J. MCCAULEY.

Witnesses:

CHAS. S. SHALLENBERGER, J. S. DOBYNS. 

